The global emergence of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections has resulted in enormous healthcare costs and has become a major threat to public health. In the U.S. alone, the total cost linked to antibiotic-resistant infections has been estimated at $5 billion annually (Zinner, Expert Rev. Anti. Infect. Ther. 3: 907-913, 2005). Since its launch in 1958, vancomycin was the drug of last resort for treating Gram-positive pathogens such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (Barrett, J. Curr. Opin. Invest. Drugs 6: 781-790, 2005). However, vancomycin-resistant S. aureus strains emerged and over 28% of enterococci responsible for intensive care unit infections in the U.S. are now vancomycin resistant (Tenover & McDonald Curr. Opin. Infect. Dis. 18: 300-305, 2005). In addition, resistance to the newest antibiotics to treat these infections, linezolid and daptomycin, has already been described (Mangili et al. Clin. Infect. Dis. 40: 1058-1060, 2005; Meka et al. J. Infect. Dis. 190: 311-317, 2004; and Tsiodras et al. Lancet 358: 207-208, 2001). To stay ahead of the development of antibacterial drug resistances, there is a pressing necessity to identify new antibiotics, especially those with novel mechanisms of action, and methods of producing such antibiotics.